Organizing a potluck without six bags of chips

Why potlucks go wrong

Left alone, everyone brings whatever is easiest, which means chips, a bottle of wine and a dessert. Nobody brings a main, because a main is work and they assume someone else will. A good potluck isn't luck; it's a little structure, set up early.

Cover the main yourself

As host, make or buy the centre of the meal: a big pot of chili, a tray of lasagna, a couple of roast chickens. Then everything guests bring is a side, a salad, bread, dessert or drinks, and the meal works even if half of it doesn't show up.

Split the menu into categories

Instead of “bring something”, give people a category. For twelve people, a reasonable split is:

• three or four sides (one should be vegetables),
• two salads,
• bread or something to scoop with,
• two desserts,
• drinks, including something without alcohol.

Let people claim a category in one shared place, first come, first served, so you can see the gaps. Ask everyone to bring enough for about half the group; with several dishes going round, that's plenty.

Ask about diets once, early

Ask about allergies and dietary needs in the invitation, not the day before. Then make sure at least one substantial dish works for each need (a vegetarian main if any guests are vegetarian, for example), and ask people to label anything with nuts, gluten or meat.

Don't let the chat plan the menu

A group chat is a bad place to keep the menu, because the list gets buried under everything else. Keep one up-to-date list of who's bringing what, and point people to it rather than answering “what's still needed?” five times.

In Planarchy

Add a poll to the event listing the categories, and ask each guest to vote for the one they'll bring, so the gaps show at a glance. Keep the conversation in the event's own chat rather than your other threads. A co-host can help keep track of who's bringing what. Save the event as a template if this becomes a regular thing.

Plan it on Planarchy

Everything above works with a group chat and some patience. Planarchy keeps it in one place instead: the date vote, the guest list, the stand-by list and the chat all live on the event, and it's free.

Try Planarchy